Everything You Need to Know About This Morning's Shooting in Virginia

UPDATE 3:30 p.m. — Almost two hours after the shooting this morning, at 8:26 a.m., ABC News received a 23-page fax and then a phone call from Bryce Williams, the reported shooter. During the phone call, Bryce spoke erratically and told the station that he had shot two people and that authorities are “after me,” and “all over the place,” as reported by the station. ABC promptly handed the pages over to the authorities, but later today, also published excerpts. In the documents, he says his actions were a direct response to racism, and more specifically, the Charleston church shooting. “Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15,” he wrote. He also referred to Virginia Tech mass killer, Seung Hui Cho, as his "boy," and specifically called out two other mass shooters.

A section titled, “Suicide Note for Friends and Family," included further grievances he said he has been dealt personally, including racism and homophobia. He said: “The church shooting was the tipping point…but my anger has been building steadily...I’ve been a human powder keg for a while…just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

These statements are obviously chilling, but more importantly, highlight the need for stricter gun laws.

UPDATE 2:20 p.m. — The shooter in this story, Bryce Williams, has reportedly died in the hospital from a self-inflicted gun wound, according to multiple news reports, and the local Richmond-Times Dispatch.

This morning, 24-year-old newscaster Alison Parker, who works for WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, was interviewing a woman for live TV at the Bridgewater Plaza shopping center in Moneta, VA, when shots — reportedly eight — suddenly rang out. Her cameraman, Adam Ward, went down. Back in the news studio with the live broadcast still going, their colleague, Kimberly McBroom, said, "OK, I'm not sure what happened there."

Adam's camera, dropped to the floor, captured an eerie glimpse of the shooter in a purple vest and and a handgun in his right hand. Both Alison and Adam, 27, died at 6:46 a.m. this morning. The woman Alison was interviewing at the time, Vicki Gardner, the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, was shot in the back and is reportedly currently in stable condition after undergoing surgery.

The gunman, who has since been identified as Vester Lee Flanagan and was known on-air as Bryce Williams, is a former employee at the TV station. After fleeing the shopping center, he led police officers and the ATF on a high speed chase on Virginia's Interstate 66 and schools in the immediate area were put on lockdown. When law enforcement agents caught up with him by late morning, he shot himself with his gun, according to NBC Washington. His exact condition is currently unconfirmed.

First, however, he posted his own recordings of the murders to his Facebook page, and tweeted about it. He also tweeted out messages about why he disliked both of his former colleagues. Both accounts have been suspended by Facebook and Twitter, respectively. WDBJ's own Twitter account, however, has been steadily providing updates.

Both Alison and Adam were romantically involved with other colleagues at WDBJ, and the whole newsroom is understandably heartbroken by the event. Alison's boyfriend, Chris Hurst, tweeted out a message about his girlfriend's untimely passing.

This event will undoubtedly reignite the debate on gun control. Just earlier this month, actress and comedian Amy Schumer, joined her cousin, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, to speak out in favor of legislation calling for stricter background checks for gun purchasers. This was after two young women died in another shooting at a Lafayette, Louisiana movie theatre in July during a showing of Amy's latest film, Trainwreck. One of today's victims, Adam, was also a graduate of Virginia Tech, where in April 2007, a student opened fire on campus and killed 32 people and wounded another 17.

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Among developed nations, America has the highest incidence of gun violence by far. For example, in the United States, 29.7 people per one million are killed by firearms, which is six times as many as Canada and 15 times as many than in Germany, according to United Nations data, and reported by Vox. Harvard University's School of Public Health summed it up as follows: "The U.S. is an outlier on gun violence because it has way more guns than other developed nations." Since Sandy Hook — the 2012 massacre at an elementary school in Connecticut, that everyone thought would undoubtedly bring about stronger gun laws — there have been another 864 mass shootings (incidents where 4 or more people were shot), all according to the same report from Vox.

After today's events, and so many others in recent years, we hope that this time the leaders of our nation step up and make a change. While some people are asking to ban firearms altogether, many understand the historical and cultural role that they play in American traditions. They're simply asking for some more common sense laws that will help prevent further tragedies.